The best City College in the nation now has the best professor in California.

Dr. Manoutchehr M. Eskandari-Qajar was all smiles as City College celebrated his 2013 California Professor of the Year win at the John Dunn Gourmet Dining Room on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013.

Assemblyman Das Williams, Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Superintendent-President Dr. Lori Gaskin and many other people of City College attended the award banquet for the political science professor.

“When I heard about this honor, I wasn’t at all surprised,” said Williams, a former student of Dr. Eskandari. “As someone who made such a contribution to my life, I can’t imagine how many hundreds if not thousands that you’ve made similar contributions to.”

Dr. Eskandari was pitted against nearly 300 professors from around the nation. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education bestowed him the award.

People packed into the banquet like students in Dr. Eskandari’s POLS 101 lecture classes as he humbly accepted the award..

Sam Terrell, Student and Phi Theta Kappa President, has spent a lot of time with Dr. Eskandari and sees him as a both teacher and a mentor.

“I didn’t have an interest in politics until I took his Poli-sci 101 class,” said Terrell. “His style of teaching is something that works really well for me. He helped mold the way I’m going to pursue my education.”

Dr. Eskandari is an adviser for the student honor society Phi Theta Kappa, chair of the political science and economic department and was named the UCSB Professor of the Year in 1991. He also took 26 students to Sacramento last spring to shadow the mayor and many state legislators.

“Dr. Gaskin called me at home for the news and I was flabbergasted,” said Dr. Eskandari. “The first thing I said to her was, ‘I’m happy for this honor, but mostly I’m happy for the honor for the college.’”